Coatesville United Soccer Program registration ends Monday

COATESVILLE — An upcoming Coatesville United Soccer program will teach children the skills to play soccer and incorporate nutritional lessons from their coaches.

The Soccer for Success offshoot will run from April 2 to May 11 and is open to students in kindergarten through sixth grade at Ash Park, 300 to 399 Kersey St.

The initiative was developed as an after-school program to help children with making good decisions, beating obesity and improving health and wellness.

The JT Dorsey Foundation, or JTDF, works the program locally with the collaboration of the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Adidas. The US Soccer Foundation is using national funding to help provide soccer in under-served communities. JT Dorsey started the program for his hometown last year.

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The program exposes children to a sport outside of physical education classes and gives them something to do, Dorsey said. Another important aspect of the program, he said, is that the children are surrounded by positive mentors.

The coaches will incorporate basic lessons of nutrition during the practice by playing games to help teach players about health and wellness. Robert Smith, a coach for Soccer for Success, said the young participants “don’t realize that they’re learning” because it’s fun.

The children then teach their parents about nutrition by sharing what they learned during the program. The participants are going to be better siblings and friends, Smith said, by learning nutrition. They are “having fun at the same time.”

The program is about engagement with a positive mentor and to learn about nutrition, Dorsey and Smith said, it is not about winning. The players will rotate to different teams, showing the games are not about the team record. The players practice once a week for one hour and play a game on Sundays.

Mentors play a role in the “recipe” as Dorsey said they teach through “modeling.” Dorsey explained the mentors are genuine and care for the well-being of the children. He has personally interacted with the players as he makes an effort to be involved with the program. His family members have been a part of the program as players and mentors. His niece helps coach, and his nephew helps as junior coach for children, and he plays soccer with older players.

There will be six coaches this year, which is enough for the 70 participants who have registered online. Dorsey said he expects more players will turn in their registration forms.

“It’s not about winning games or developing great players,” Dorsey said. “Let them come and have fun in participating.”

The parents play an important role as well, organizers said.

“I advocate to the parents, thank you for trusting us with this program, (by) stepping out of the box and letting us do something different,” Smith said. “Soccer is different for inner city kids ... you can succeed from stepping outside of the box and doing something different.”

Smith said it is more than a soccer program because it calls for social change and offers a positive program with mentors.

“Having a community officer involved with the program as a mentor, the kids get to create a positive relationship with law enforcement that isn’t necessarily promoted in our communities,” Dorsey said about Coatesville community police officer Rodger Ollis. “We want them to understand the law enforcement officers are a resource to them and not negative.”

The program benefits from the attempt to “break the barrier between the community and the police,” as Ollis explained, and it makes everyone safer “if you can help strengthen the relationship when they’re younger.”

Ollis said it is beneficial for the parents to see their children participating in a sport with children their age, mentors and a police officer in plain clothes. He said he interacts with the children by warming up with them and playing a game when possible. He said he also interacts as the referee and a coach and he cheers from along the sidelines.

“I certainly enjoy the positive interaction, and I think it’s important that policing includes seeking out opportunities to form good relationships with the public,” Ollis said. “I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Registration forms can be found and hand delivered to City Hall, or register online, by Monday, March 25. As the program continues to grow, the coordinators would like to see more volunteers get involved as mentors.

Registration costs $50 per player and includes a program T-shirt.

The coordinators are also seeking financial support to lower the cost for the families of players. Dorsey said parents may want their children to join a program but may be unable to afford costs of traveling, soccer gear or the registration fee.